[NEWS] Flow like the river: Big K.R.I.T. and Mississippi’s flood of hip-hop – The Guardian

Hip-hop, the most urban of genres, is getting a new sound – courtesy of the small towns of a deep south state. by Rob Boffard

Around 40 miles south of Jackson, Mississippi‘s state capital, just off Interstate 55, lies the town of Crystal Springs. Unless you need to fill up your car or your stomach, you almost certainly won’t leave the freeway to visit it.

Around 6,000 people live in Crystal Springs. Last year, the town briefly made headlines when members of the congregation at the First Baptist Church on East Cayuga Street refused to let their pastor marry a black couple. It used to call itself The Tomato Capital of the World. That gives you a bit of insight into the kind of place this is.

When he was in high school in the early 90s, Jason Thompson would get into his 79 Chevy Impala and drive from his family’s house on Utica Road, which meanders outside the town limits past the cemetery. He’d end up at the gas station with his friends. They’d sit outside, late into the night, scanning the dial for hip-hop.